Ben

Friday, January 18, 2008

1. Flipping back & forth: This gets the reader more excited because it starts new stories when you're bored, and cuts them off when you're excited, so you'll want to read more.

2. Bringing characters together: In all of Hiaasen's books, he flips back and forth between characters. Near the end of the book, most, if not, all of the characters end up in one spot together.

3. 3rd Person: This helps the reader's understanding of all characters alike.

4. Dealey the Photographer: Without Dealey the photographer, Piejack wouldn't have tried to find Honey at the island. Or the climax, for that matter.

5. Honey Santana: Honey helped us out alot in terms of bringing everyone together, because she brought Boyd and Eugine together, and following them was Dealey the photographer.

6. Florida: It'd be tough to permit kayaking and swimming if it weren't for Florida's warm weather.

7. The Gibson Guitar: The Gibson guitar is a great significance, because throughout the book, Sammy is constantly strumming it and it is used to kill Louis Piejack.

8. Fry Santana: Without Fry, Honey would be kidnapped, raped, and possibly killed, because he was the one who informed his father about Louis Piejack going to the Ten Thousand Islands.

9. Louis Piejack's faulty sewed fingers: These faulty fingers made it tough for Louis to perform daily activity, like brushing his teeth, kidnapping Honey, taking out the trash, taking large doses of pain killers.

10. The Ten Thousand Islands: These islands added humor, romance, conflict, and a climax to the book, with its maze like setting.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Figurative Language:(Page 265) "...which flogged against his thigh until surgical dressing fell off in a putrid husk. "This shows that the bandage on his hand fell off.(Page 271) "The shot sounded odd, like a firecracker in the toilet." This shows that the sound was odd... obviously.(Page 296) "He swung his ax like a world series champion." This shows that he used force and precision to swing the ax.

Significant Quote:Let's get your folks," she said "and get the hell out of here."This quote signifies that they're preparing for departure, because Louis Piejack is "dead."

Themes:Always be protective toward others. Even when your life is threatened, it's still another peson.

Post BEugine takes Fry back to the campsite to find Sammy, Gillian, and Dealey. He lays on some sweatshirts when Skinner finds them, and is happy to see Sammy, whom is an old friend. Meanwhile at Honey's campsite, is alone with Boyd. Boyd goes and takes a leak, and he hears Honey's screams. He runs back to see that she is getting tied up by some maniac. This maniac is Louis Piejack. Boyd, being the lazy bastard and careless bastard he is, does nothing and lets Honey get kidnapped. Louis is on the run! Honey is holding him off by delaying the trip, by using frequent bathroom breaks. Skinner and Sammy are searching, and searching, and searching, but they're having trouble finding Louis. Gillian, Dealey and Eugine get rescued by a helicopter. Leaving Fry behind, to go about his own searches. He comes across Louis and Honey. Honey and Louis tell him to shoo off, but Fry doesn't agree, and decides to "run off" but he comes back and hits Louis with a tree branch. Causing him to fall over, but not get knocked out. More help arrives! Sammy and Skinner come to the scene. Louis takes his shotgun, and threatens to kill Honey if they don't leave. So Sammy asks if he can have his stolen guitar back. And Louis rudely agrees. So Sammy grabs it, and stealthy hits Louis square in the back of his head, shattering his skull to death.

Days later, Skinner is living with Honey again. Taking care of one another's' wounds from the Ten Thousand Islands. Boyd manages to swim his way back to the mainland, and decides he wants to start a new life in Florida, and get away from it all. Dealey tells Lily that he got no shots, and is not doing business with her anymore. He also promised to destroy the video footage of Eugine and Boyd having sex, for Eugine. Sammy maintains his life back at the Ten Thousand Islands.

Figurative Language:(Page 216) "A wounded man was apt to stir up more trouble than a dead one." When a man is dead, it doesn't matter to the murder as long as he is not found, this does not connect with wounded men.(Page 222) "as the first shards of light appeared along the pinkish rim of the Everglades, Honey drew in her breath." Shards of light are the first bits of sunlight appearing like shards of glass.(Page 228) "Piejack opened his jaws and unfurled his tongue, which resembled a scabrous brown sea slug." This shows his tongue is disgusting.

Significant Quote:"I said I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" The boy hollered. Then he doubled over and puked on Piejack's shoes.This quote shows how ill the boy is from his garbage truck accident.

Themes:Always stay together, never leave anyone alone.

Post BBoyd and Eugine continue to camp on their island, when they try to escape, they notice the kayaks have been hidden. Oh joy. Meanwhile, Sammy, Gillian, and Dealey are hanging out at their campsite. Fry and Skinner arrive on the island, Skinner decides that it's too dangerous for Fry to join him, so he tells him to stay at the boat. So as Fry sits there, Eugine comes up and finds him. And decides to help him find his mother and father. Eugine has recently escaped from Boyd and Honey and found Sammy's campsite.

Figurative Language:(Page 173) "She's quite the comedian" It shows she was sarcastic and messed with people alot.(Page 183) "At the strip joint, the men drank festively but set no records" This shows that they didn't drink enough to get "hammered" as the cool kids say.(Page 184) "Sammy Tigertail had known she was poison, yet he'd willingly opened his veins." Sammy knew that he would fall in love with this college girl. But he let it have it on himself.

Significant Quote:"And then Boyd did what he did best. Absolutely nothing."This shows Boyd is lazy as hell.

Themes:Make the best of an experience.

Post BOn the night of Boyd and Eugine's arrival, they are shocked and disappointed to see that the "Nature Site" that they were going to was a trailer with monkeys and other wild animals painted on it. Eugine being needy and expecting more, was infuriated by Boyd's decisions. Honey overhears conversation of Eugine's anger and frustration. It doesn't matter to Honey though, the one thing she wants to see is Boyd in sorrow. They are set to depart in the morning. Meanwhile, Louis Piejack and Dealey the photographer are on Louis' Johnboat, looking for Honey as she kayak's the Ten Thousand Islands. They stop on an island where they see the kayaks. As they walk in, Dealey threatens to leave Piejack and find his own way back. This sets Piejack off, and he starts beating him up. As he is about to hit him once more, Sammy Tigertail comes up and hits Louis in the head with his gun. Knocking him to the ground.Assuming he is dead, Dealey is taken back to Sammy and Gillian's campsite.While Honey entertains her "visitors," Fry is sent to his dad's house. When he stumbles upon Piejack and Dealey driving away in a pickup, he knows that it's regarding his mother. So he quickly runs to his father for help. His father, Perry Skinner is told and follows him on his motorcycle. During this, Fry runs into a dump truck while skateboarding to school. So his father gets the call while trying to find Piejack, picks him up from the hospital, gives him a football helmet to avoid further concussion. They later board a boat, and take off to get Louis Piejack.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Post AVocabDaiquiri: noun, An iced cocktail of rum, lime or lemon juice, and sugar. Coronary: noun, Pertaining to the human heart.Figurative Language(Page 75)"He looked up and saw her stretch like a sleepy lioness on the Persian carpet."This quote signifies that Lily is getting comfortable with the floor.(Page 97)"...his hair was sun-bleached, and his hair was baked caramel brown."This quote goes to show that Perry works outdoors alot.(Page 84)"Sammy Tigertail was depressed to think this bubblehead would soon be a school teacher."By "bubblehead" he means that she just isn't remotely intelligent.So far, my theme for this part that you should always remain with your current affair, and never have more than one. It will come back to haunt you.

Post BWelcome to Florida! Lily's photographer has taken his trip to lovely "Flarida." He has gone all out, for this trip with his Cadillac rental car, and full set of video/camera equipment. As he parks in front of the trailer where the lovely cheating couple is staying. He calls Lily telling her he cannot do this. He can't even get out of his car due to the insane neighbor dogs lurking around his car. So Lily jerks the price up to $25,000. This inspires him to dash out of the car, and run up to the trailer and take pictures, when he suddenly gets sited by a certain character, whom is madly in love with Honey Santana, the owner of the trailer. Louis Piejack is the name. Thinking the photographer is getting pictures of Honey, he forces him to join him in his quest to get with Honey, or at least get some shots of him. Sammy Tigertail has been having a tough time with this college girl, Gillian. She just yabbers on! Driving Sammy insane. But yet, he is not abandoning her, even after Gillian called her boyfriend whom she dumped in the process, telling him that she was fine, and she didn't need a stampede of coast guard boats and choppers to help find her. Boyd Shreave has taken his journeys to a trailer! Where he will soon be taken away to a beautiful kayak trip through the Ten Thousand Islands. Magnificent.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Figurative Language"But then he was only a teenager, stoked with idealism and newfound pride."This metaphorical quote is significant to Sammy Tigertail because he is half Native American, and has been proud of it since the day he discovered it."His wife's uncanny mimicry left him numb with confusion."During this scene, after Lily, Boyd's wife had found out he was cheating on her. Lily still hasn't brought it up, and is trying to torment him and make him has uncomfortable as possible."To maintain a clear view of the beach, he slashed one arm back and forth like a windshield wiper, through the buzzing horde."This simile gives a good perspective of how buggy those southern Florida swamps are.

Quote"And disappointment- corrosive and bottomless disappointment- in her only son, who after thirty five years had failed to distinguish himself either professionally or socially, displaying to Della's hardened eye not a speck of ambition."This quote signifies that Boyd Shreave is a very uninteresting fellow, this is mentioned throughout the book.ThemeMy theme for this post would be to always be honest, because in the event of emergency, your lies may be revealed.

Post BSammy Tigertail has taken his business on foot. Into the depths of the buggy humid Florida swamps. He has encountered some teenagers camping out, blaring music, and drinking beer. So Sammy decides to steal one of their kayaks for punishment. As he proceeds to take one while they're sleeping. One of the girls wakes up, and is rambling on about her life at school, and sex life. As Sammy tries to ignore her, she asks to take her with him. When Sammy refuses, she threatens to scream. And that's when they're off.Boyd Shreave is continuing to cheat on Lily with the young Eugine Fonda. Lily's detective manages to get video of the unlawful couple making love on the couch. When Lily sees the video she watches closely and decides that it isn't valid enough for her taste. So she offers $10,000 to the detective to go closer into the footage, by following Boyd and Eugine as they take a trip to the Ten Thousand Islands. Well, this Ten Thousand Islands trip is actually a scam provided by Honey Santana. She pretended to be an advertiser, and Boyd gladly accepted, as a way to get away from Lily, and be with Eugine. Honey is using this trip to meet up with them on Kayaks, and do what God only knows what she'll do. We will find out!... Next Post.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Vocab:(Page 18)Dyspeptic, adj: To be gloomy, pessimistic, and irritable.(Page 27)Bewitchment,noun: A magical spell.

Figurative Language: (Page 23)"The woman had made the tree cutter out to be a stallion in the bedroom" This clearly shows that it is figurative because it's quite obvious that you can't suddenly become a horse in the bedroom. I would go into depth, but I think you know why it could be an awkward subject to bring up via school blog.(Page 26)"...battling uncontrollable spells of apprehension and dread;"This is figurative because it's obvious that "going crazy" doesn't come to you through a spell, but yet through harsh times at home and work alike.(Page 44) "When Eugenie Fonda passed him a playful not, Sacco swatted it away as if it were a scorpion."This is figurative due to the "as if," making it a similie.

Significant Quote:"It was during that wrenching time where Honey began hearing musical static in her head."This shows that Honey is mentally unstable, which gives you a good idea of why she tends to take such serious actions on such small things.

Themes:A theme in this book, is to always make significant choices. You never know what could come around the corner.

Part BThe book "Nature Girl" is split into different character perspectives. So far I have encountered three. The first one takes place on a swampy river with a half-Native man named Sammy Tigertail who is at his first day of work as a boat tour guide. With such lack of business going on, Sammy takes one Midwestern tourist out named Wilson. He and Wilson go out, and later, a water snake pops out, and goes into Wilson's mouth. With such shock, Wilson dies of a heart attack, and the snake is completely harmless. Sammy disposes of the body by misunderstanding his brother, and attaching it to four anchors, and dropping it into the middle of the swamp. The second perspective is of a mother and son living in a trailer. The mother, Honey, is a divorced woman who is mentally insane. She is perscribed to medicine to calm herself down. When they're about to sit down for dinner, they got a phone call from an advertisement company. Seeing as getting one of those calls before sitting down for dinner can be annoying as hell, Honey begins to talk back to the advertiser named Boyd Eisenhower. Since Boyd is having a bad day, he eventually says to Honey, "Go screw yourself you old dried-up skank!" and hangs up the phone. You may guess that the third perspective is indeed Boyd Eisenhower. His real name is actually Boyd Shreave, the reason he chose Eisenhower, was so people couldn't report his last name. Boyd shreave is a married man who lives with a wealthy woman named Lily, but is cheating on her with a girl named Eugine. Showing such obvious evidence the Boyd is cheating on Lily, Lily hires a detective to spy on Boyd and see what he's up to on his spare time. Weeks later, the detective indeed has proof that Boyd is cheating on her.